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History Brief

The Franchise #18 team was based south of the border in Mexicali for nearly 65 years, beginning in 1902. However, in 1911, needing time off to pursue his pharmaceutical studies, Al Keefer signed a 2-year caretaker agreement with Dave Norlander, heir to a Swedish fur-trapping monopoly fortune. The team was moved north to Minnesota for a 2-season run beginning in 1912. Norlander died suddenly during the latter half of the 1913 season. Assuming control of Franchise #18 in a 6-year deal was trapper Jeffrey Hobbs, who moved the team even further north to Barrow, Alaska. Following that agreement, the franchise was returned to Mexicali in 1921. Hobbs would later reappear on the TCBA scene as scion of the Fargo Fungoes.